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Full Morning With Lambs

I have fallen behind in processing lambs. In an attempt to do some catch up I decided to collect the flock to move them into a small paddock and spend the morning catching lambs.

I attempted to use Cajun and Jayde to collect the flock. But Cajun is still not a dog I can use when working young lambs, and maybe he won’t ever be. He fixates on lambs and moves in on individuals, thus putting stress and pressure on the ewe causing her to fight. Cajun is not a patient dog and he’s quick to fight right back. If I wanted him to catch lambs for me Cajun would do it. He loves to tackle lambs and does so with amazing agility and no harm done. I’m not sure I want to allow that kind of work however. I put him back on the Ranger and tied him in the back.

Jayde does a better job in this case as she doesn’t fixate on lambs; she’d really rather leave lambs altogether. She will put on too much pressure as well but is more settled in her work so I can get her to pause to let the ewe think about moving off.

I used Jayde for a bit and we got things started. After that I put her on the Ranger too. From there I just worked the group tighter and tighter without the dogs. There are just some circumstances where I make better progress without a dog and pushing up ewes with young lambs is one of them.

I never did get the flock into the paddock but did get them grouped and by then the lambs were lying down to rest. I was able to walk through and catch a lot of them while Allen, who by now had joined me, kept the group from spreading too far.

It was a full morning and I'm still not caught up with doing all the lambs but did make good headway. In the afternoon I puttered at some tasks that didn't involve sheep. Early this evening we moved the flock. This time however, the ewes were ready for new grass and pretty much moved themselves, following the water bus as it traveled to the next paddock.